Nozomi Entertainment and Right Stuf Anime have announced that Gundam Thunderbolt will be receiving a standard Blu-Ray release and will retail for US$34.99(Currently slashed to $20.99). They also announced that MS IGLOO, a 9-episode Gundam series that was made entirely in CGI, will also receive a Blu-Ray release and retail for US$64.99(Currently slashed to $38.99). Both series will release on July 11th of this year.

The fact that Thunderbolt is receiving yet another release, and this time at a much lower price point, gives me hope that other overpriced releases such as the Gundam The Origin OVA’s get re-released at more affordable prices. As of this writing, those OVA’s are priced between US$80 and US$100 as import collector’s editions, the same as Thunderbolts current releases, though the import Blu-Ray is now out of print, and the UHD import is out of stock(Likely temporarily, but if a non-import release is announced expect it to also go out of print.).

Out of these two releases, MS IGLOO is the oldest with its first set of episodes airing in 2004. Unlike every other Gundam series, MS IGLOO is entirely CGI and not cel-shaded CG either. Personally speaking I think it’s absolutely gorgeous and a must watch for Gundam fans. The only complaints I have with it are the wonky ship animations that make them look like they’re dancing, and the over-exaggerated facial expressions of the characters.